


no man left behind

by esteemed_professor



Series: Nikole Shepard [3]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: besties for life, i'm sorry this is short and lame :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 10:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7711303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esteemed_professor/pseuds/esteemed_professor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeff is the brother that Shepard never had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	no man left behind

**Author's Note:**

> i apologize in advance this is short and awful but i felt the need to set up joker and shepard's friendship before referencing it in future works so

Her first name is not listed in the official Alliance profile that the _Normandy_ ’s crew is given access to.

Instead, she is simply “ _Commander Shepard_ ”, which seems sort of absurd to Joker because what sort of military tight-ass is so married to their job that they don’t even acknowledge their own first name?

The profile in question says a lot about his CO in not so many words. There’s always something vaguely off-setting about reading a synopsis of someone else’s life in a military database, but Joker figures that it’s there for a reason, and he’ll be damned if he isn’t just a tiny bit curious. You don’t get that n-7 stripe unless you _really_ impressed someone, and besides, he’d like to know what he’s getting himself into.

They don’t mention Torfan by name in the remarkably dry summary that accompanies a holo of a woman who looks much younger than the Commander he’s flying around now, but the subtext is pretty damn obvious. That, and marines are horrible gossips. Alenko let it slip once, the first time the Commander engaged him an actual conversation, and Joker _almost_ pitied the guy when Shepard fixed him with a look that could freeze over hell itself. He makes a mental note not to broach the subject -- not that he’d intended to, anyways.

Commander Shepard makes the rounds after her Spectre promotion, and Joker finds himself mildly impressed that she stops to greet and engage even the lowliest tech-monkey. She seems genuinely interested in the well-being of everyone on-board the cramped frigate, which is surprising, given her rather infamous reputation. She doesn’t exactly have the sort of sunny disposition that you’d expect, either.

He braces himself for the inevitable barrage of questions when he hears the heavy footfalls of her boots on the bridge behind him. Braces a bit _too_ much, in fact -- she barely opens her mouth before he’s gone on the offensive. It’s only after his rant, when he sees her blink of what must be surprise, that he starts regretting it.

“I didn’t know you were ill,” is her flat reply, and Joker mentally kicks himself. _Shit_. Well, might as well get it out in the open now.

Her lips are twisted into something like a wry smile by the time he’s done explaining. He takes a moment to notice just how tall she is -- everyone is tall compared to a cripple, but Shepard has to be pushing a little over six feet, even without the combat boots. Combined with her broad shoulders and dark eyes, it isn’t hard to imagine the Commander bullying her way through the Citadel, regardless of who tries to stop her.

“Why does everyone call you Joker?” she asks, and he realizes that he’s been staring. He hopes she doesn’t take that as a challenge.

“It’s a lot shorter than saying Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moureau,” he quips, wondering idly how he’s made it this far in life with so little self preservation instinct. “Plus, I love to make little children laugh.”

“Yeah, I bet,” she replies, and settles herself in the copilot’s seat, casual as can be. “I was _just thinking_ how much you remind me of Santa Claus.”

“Look, I didn’t pick the name. One of the instructors in flight school used to bug me about never smiling. She started calling me _Joker_ , and it stuck.”

Shepard nods, and doesn’t pry any further. The questions stop, but the Commander stays, apparently content to stare out the view port into the star-speckled void. It’s sort awkward at first, but he finds himself almost forgetting about her presence after a bit. There’s something about the way she slouches in her chair that is startling _normal_ , and much further from the straight-laced officer act than he’d ever expected.

Pressly eventually calls for the Commander over the comms, and Shepard lets out a long-suffering sigh as she pushes herself to her feet. “No rest for the wicked,” she mutters, and gives the back of his chair a pat before returning to the CIC.

After that, she makes her way up to the bridge on a regular basis, sinking into the copilot’s seat like she owns the place -- which, he guesses, she might as well -- and watching the stars whisk by as they cruise through various systems. Sometimes, they shoot the shit, and Joker finds that Shepard is refreshingly human, and not afraid to return his wry commentary in kind. Sometimes, she brings a stack of datapads, and sits in silence as she leafs through reports and files a few of her own. Sometimes, she listens to music, though he teases her mercilessly about her ancient, oversized headphones. Sometimes, he looks over to find her asleep, draped over the chair in what must be a horribly uncomfortable position, her breathing deep and rhythmic.

  
Always, after that first conversation, she calls him Jeff.

**Author's Note:**

> p.s. i suck at titles. this one is a reference to shepard going back for joker during the collector attack on the SR-1, even though that event isn't even remotely mentioned in this work. whoops.


End file.
